1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention is related to airport airfield lighting systems, and more specifically, to systems which monitor such airfield lighting systems and remote access provided thereto via the Internet.
2. Background of the Art
The future of aviation is undergoing a massive technological change with the use of Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. This change not only affects large air carrier airports, but also the smaller general aviation airports located in remote areas or small towns. Higher levels of finding are also becoming more available for general aviation airports.
It is anticipated that changes in federal regulations under the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) will stipulate that the FAA no longer buy and maintain the approach equipment. Equipment will be funded by the FAA, however, the equipment will need to be installed and maintained by local airport maintenance staff and/or out-sourced to a maintenance contractor for support. This change from a centralized federal program to a localized standalone operation presents a new problem for approach lighting systems for general aviation airports. Not only will the local airports be held responsible for the maintenance of the airfield lighting and related systems, but they will need to provide the support contracts. Furthermore, in those remote areas where technically-capable maintenance personnel may not be readily available, other means are needed to ensure that the airport has a safe and operational airfield lighting system.
What is needed is a system which provides local monitor and control of the general aviation airport airfield lighting system while also offering remote portal access to the local system by authorized users for periodic review of the system data which indicates the viability of the airport system. Furthermore, the local system needs an automatic notification feature for automatically notifying selected users when system faults occur. Still further, what is needed is a centralized general aviation monitoring system which connects to monitor a number of remote general aviation airport airfield systems, including runway and approach lighting systems, etc., such that authorized individuals can access the remote systems from anywhere, and at any time.